Tax bills for Real Estate and Personal Property are due in two installments, July and January. All Motor Vehicle Supplemental tax bills are due in full in January. The last day to pay the January installment without penalty is February 1, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.

If you have not received a bill, please contact the Tax Office at (860) 623-8904 or view your bill online at eastwindsorct.com "pay bill online".

ANY DELINQUENT MOTOR VEHICLE TAX SHALL BE PAID ONLY IN CASH, CERTIFIED CHECK OR MONEY ORDER.

PURSUANT TO TOWN ORDINANCE 86-1

DELINQUENT MOTOR VEHICLE TAXES PAID BY

PERSONAL CHECKS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTEDAND WILL BE RETURNED TO THE TAXPAYER.

****TO OBTAIN A DMV RELEASE****

CLEARANCE FOR DMV: Residents that require a “clearance” for any transaction with DMV must be current on all accounts in that name or associated with that name on a motor vehicle registration.

FOR AN IMMEDIATE CLEARANCE: PAY IN CASH, BANK CHECK OR MONEY ORDER. Call the office for a payoff amount at 860-623-8904.

DMV RELEASES WILL NOT BE GIVEN FOR PAYMENTS MADE ONLINE

TO SEARCH BY NAME, TYPE LAST NAME, HIT THE SPACE BAR, THEN TYPE FIRST INITIAL

DO NOT ADD COMMAS OR DASHES IN THE SEARCH AREA

Online Payment Types subject to convenience fees by Point and Pay: Convenience fees cover various administrative costs associated with accepting payments and are non-refundable. The convenience fee amount is automatically calculated and is shown on the payment page before you submit your payment for processing. Convenience fees will appear as a separate charge from the bill amount on your credit card and bank statements.

Debit or Credit Cards:

Visa Debit: $3.95 Flat fee (NO DMV CLEARANCE FOR 10 BUSINESS DAYS)

All other Debit/Credit cards: 2.5% or a $2.00 minimum (NO DMV CLEARANCE FOR 10 BUSINESS DAYS)

As a consequence of recent changes in the way state and local property taxes may be allowable as deductions in the federal tax code, taxpayers have approached town officials about ‘prepaying’ taxes during calendar year 2017 for tax obligations that will come due in calendar year 2018 or beyond.

The state statutes in Connecticut relative to taxation are strictly construed, meaning, unless the authority is specifically granted or incidental to an authority specifically granted, it CANNOT be assumed that such authority exists. The town cannot infer powers and cannot ‘read into’ the statutes to find authorities that are not there.

Tax collectors have authority to collect when they have been issued a tax warrant and a rate bill. Unless and until they have these documents, they have no authority to collect. That means tax collectors do not have the authority to collect ‘prepayments’ of taxes that will come due in July 2018 and beyond.

The Town does have the authority to collect the January 1, 2018 installment during December 2017, because we do have a signed rate bill and tax warrant. Taxpayers are welcome to make those payments now. By law, that entire tax came due on July 1, 2017, and the installments are merely a convenience for the taxpayer. (Some towns, such as Westport, bill quarterly, and are accepting January 2018 and April 2018 installment payments for that reason.) The tax collector’s office is committed to being as helpful as possible to taxpayers wishing to pay their January 1, 2018 tax installments during the last days of calendar year 2017.

Town officials have performed due diligence and consulted with the Connecticut Tax Collectors’ Association, the Connecticut Association of Municipal Attorneys, the Government Finance Officers’ Association, Connecticut Tax Collectors’ Association Certification program instructors, and other public officials with knowledge of state law. The Connecticut Tax Collectors’ Association has an opinion from its corporation counsel advising that there is no state statute that exists which authorizes tax collectors to accept prepayment of July 2018 tax installments at this time, and that doing so would conflict with state law. This opinion further advised that municipalities need to evaluate the risk of accepting such prepayments when doing so could be considered an effort to evade federal income tax
liability. Accordingly, accepting these prepayments is not only contrary to state law and improper not only from a tax collecting perspective, but also contrary to generally accepted cash management and internal control procedures.

For these reasons, the East Windsor Tax Collector’s Office will not be accepting ‘prepayments’ toward July 2018 and future tax installments until a rate bill is signed.

Sewer assessments and connection charges are due September 1. Aircraft registration is due October 1.

The Tax Office is responsible for collection of real estate, motor vehicle, and personal property taxes. We also collect sewer assessment and facility connection charges for the WPCA, airplane registrations and fire district taxes.

The bills for real estate and personal property are split into two installments; the first is due July 1 and the second due January 1 of each year.

Tax bills are mailed out once per year in June and have two installment stubs on them. No bills are sent for the January installment.

Motor Vehicle taxes are paid in one installment; regular motor vehicle bills are due July 1 and supplemental motor vehicle bills (for vehicles registered between October 2 and July 30) are due January 1.

Fire district taxes are due in one installment due July 1.

Delinquent Taxes

Interest on delinquent taxes accrues at the rate of 1.5% per month, starting at the original due date.

Connecticut State Statutes 12-145 and 12-146 govern delinquent tax collection. Tax collectors do not have authority to waive interest for any reason.

All delinquent motor vehicle bills must be paid by cash or certified bank check to obtain a DMV release for registration.

Credit card payments are processed by Point & Pay and can be made by clicking the Online Tax Payment link above. An additional fee applies. By state law, oldest bills must be paid first.

Delinquent taxes may be, but not limited to, collection proceedings such as tax sales, foreclosure, State Marshal or collection agency.

See Tax Collector Office Policies for a detailed collection enforcement timeline. The tax office reserves the right to modify the process to utilize other means authorized under Connecticut General Statutes.

DMV RELEASES WILL NOT BE GIVEN FOR PAYMENTS MADE ONLINE

Tax Collection in Connecticut

Municipal Tax Assessors and Tax Collectors are bound by the Connecticut General State Statutes. The statutes that apply to tax assessing and collecting can be found in Volume 4, Section 12 of the State Statutes.

By state law, municipal property taxes are an ad valorum tax. This means that the taxes are based upon the value of the property. Currently, state statutes require Assessors to assess property at 70% of the market value. Real estate is assessed at 70% of the market value as of the last state-mandated town-wide revaluation.

An important factor when determining your tax bill is the town budget. Each year, you have the opportunity to vote for the town budget- this includes the General Government budget, which pays for police, public works, the library, park and recreations, elderly services and municipal offices; the board of education budget, and the bonded debt budget, which covers large expenditures voted on and approved by townspeople. Once the budget is passed by the townspeople, the Board of Finance computes the mill rate.

A mill rate represents 1/1000th of a dollar.

It is important to remember that municipalities are run with transparency and accountability to its citizens. The tax office must treat every taxpayer fairly and equitably. Our offices are open to the public and our staff is available to answer any questions you may have about your tax bill.

The citizens of this town have certain responsibilities as well. If you are a business owner in town, you must, by law, report your assets in a Personal Property Declaration each year so that they may be assessed properly. If you sell personal property or cancel motor vehicle registrations, it is your responsibility to notify the town in a timely manner.